Questions about I 129F

[FrozenGlitter 1]

At looonnggg last, I am free to assemble and file my I 129F!!! So now, good people, I have some more questions:

-Items like boarding passes, passport stamps, etc: My fiance wants to scan and email these things for me to print. I had read they have to be photocopies. Which is correct? Also, are black and white or color copies more preferable for this?

- Years ago I lived in Japan and had a few jobs there...but it was all on a US air force base. So do I need to list it as my last overseas address/job on the G 325A? Do these count as foreign addresses since military bases are US property? What if I can't get this info (it was 10 years ago and an APO address).

- In this first marriage, my name didn't change, and I have no marriage certificate, and one would be near impossible to obtain. Marriage certificates are for proving name changes only. I can easily get the divorce certificate. So would a post it note explaining that in that marriage my name didn't change be enough?

- I have just gotten divorced from my second marriage where my name DID change (yeah, bad past relationships abound). For this I will have my marriage certificate. I also will have both a divorce DECREE (orders about money, property, and custody) and CERTIFICATE (just vital statistics data, stamped but not signed by a judge). Which should I include? Or both?

- When it says I need my divorce decrees and birth certificate, front and back, do I need OFFICIAL copies or are photocopies ok? Color (for the birth certificate) or not? Does it need to be the hard to aquire long form, or will my basic short one be ok?

-At any point in this process will my fiance need his birth certificate? Does he need to send me his passport ID page, or just pictures of his stamps?

-I've read it should be written in black ink but signed in blue. Is this true?

That's it for these, I'll have some more later I'm sure, now off to write a post with my questions about the AOS process!

[Canerican 242]

At looonnggg last, I am free to assemble and file my I 129F!!! So now, good people, I have some more questions:

-Items like boarding passes, passport stamps, etc: My fiance wants to scan and email these things for me to print. I had read they have to be photocopies. Which is correct? Also, are black and white or color copies more preferable for this?

They need to be photocopies so that if they keep you have the passport. Black and white photocopies are good. That is what my now wife and I did when we applied for fiance visa.

- Years ago I lived in Japan and had a few jobs there...but it was all on a US air force base. So do I need to list it as my last overseas address/job on the G 325A? Do these count as foreign addresses since military bases are US property? What if I can't get this info (it was 10 years ago and an APO address).

Hopefully another person can help you with this as I do not know about this situation.

- In this first marriage, my name didn't change, and I have no marriage certificate, and one would be near impossible to obtain. Marriage certificates are for proving name changes only. I can easily get the divorce certificate. So would a post it note explaining that in that marriage my name didn't change be enough?

I cannot help as I am not a USC. Am bent to think that you should as you need to say other previous marraiages.

- I have just gotten divorced from my second marriage where my name DID change (yeah, bad past relationships abound). For this I will have my marriage certificate. I also will have both a divorce DECREE (orders about money, property, and custody) and CERTIFICATE (just vital statistics data, stamped but not signed by a judge). Which should I include? Or both?

For this marriage you can put in the divorce decree.

- When it says I need my divorce decrees and birth certificate, front and back, do I need OFFICIAL copies or are photocopies ok? Color (for the birth certificate) or not? Does it need to be the hard to aquire long form, or will my basic short one be ok?

Photocopies of these are ok. Black and white is fine.

-At any point in this process will my fiance need his birth certificate? Does he need to send me his passport ID page, or just pictures of his stamps?

Yes your fiance will need his birth certificate when you guys apply for the I-129F, we included mine when we did the I-129F. Also will need long form for AOS.

-I've read it should be written in black ink but signed in blue. Is this true?

I'm pretty sure we wrote it and signed in black.

That's it for these, I'll have some more later I'm sure, now off to write a post with my questions about the AOS process!

[aws&ndd 103]

At looonnggg last, I am free to assemble and file my I 129F!!! So now, good people, I have some more questions:

-Items like boarding passes, passport stamps, etc: My fiance wants to scan and email these things for me to print. I had read they have to be photocopies. Which is correct? Also, are black and white or color copies more preferable for this?

- Years ago I lived in Japan and had a few jobs there...but it was all on a US air force base. So do I need to list it as my last overseas address/job on the G 325A? Do these count as foreign addresses since military bases are US property? What if I can't get this info (it was 10 years ago and an APO address).

- In this first marriage, my name didn't change, and I have no marriage certificate, and one would be near impossible to obtain. Marriage certificates are for proving name changes only. I can easily get the divorce certificate. So would a post it note explaining that in that marriage my name didn't change be enough?

- I have just gotten divorced from my second marriage where my name DID change (yeah, bad past relationships abound). For this I will have my marriage certificate. I also will have both a divorce DECREE (orders about money, property, and custody) and CERTIFICATE (just vital statistics data, stamped but not signed by a judge). Which should I include? Or both?

- When it says I need my divorce decrees and birth certificate, front and back, do I need OFFICIAL copies or are photocopies ok? Color (for the birth certificate) or not? Does it need to be the hard to aquire long form, or will my basic short one be ok?

-At any point in this process will my fiance need his birth certificate? Does he need to send me his passport ID page, or just pictures of his stamps?

-I've read it should be written in black ink but signed in blue. Is this true?

That's it for these, I'll have some more later I'm sure, now off to write a post with my questions about the AOS process!

Scanning and emailing, or photocopying and mailing is the same thing--they are still copies and either way is fine.

I wouldn't count your overseas jobs as a foreign location since it was on US military bases. However I am not 100% sure on this, maybe someone that knows more can answer better.

For the I-129f, they do not need your previous marriage certificates. All they need are your divorce certificates, because these documents prove you are legally free to marry. Your previous marriage certificates are pointless. Although a photocopy of a certified copy of your divorce certificate should be ok, sometimes it would still generate an RFE. To play it safe, I sent in the original certified copy of my divorce certificate.

And as far as which divorce copy (decree or certificate), they only want the certificate where it states you are legally divorced and now free to marry. The other stuff about property, custody, etc. isn't needed, just useless information for your case.

The petitioner can include EITHER a copy of the birth certificate (front and back) OR copies of all pages of the passport. (Do not need to include both, just one or the other--this is to prove citizenship).

The beneficiary will NOT NEED the birth certificate until the embassy interview.

The beneficiary's passport bio page is not needed until the filing of AOS.

You can sign in blue or black ink. The reason they say to use blue ink is to prove it is an original signature. However, now that you can make a good copy in color, signing in blue ink to prove its not a copy is bogus. A tip I read here on VJ, is to sign your documents on something soft, like a magazine, so that it will actually leave an indentation where your signature is. That will prove its original, not that you chose to sign in blue ink over black ink.

[FrozenGlitter 1]

Thanks, that's all good advice and pointers! The thing about signing on something soft I never thought of, that's a good idea.

The reason I was concerned about past marriage certificates was because I've read you should include these as an explanation for a name change. For instance, my birth certificate is in a different name than my current one. I was going to submit my marraige to my 2nd husband certificate as proof of why my name is now what it is (I felt it was pointless to revert to my married name after my divorce since I will be changing again when I marry my fiance). But I kept my maiden name in marriage #1, so I was concerned that not having both marriage certificates would cause confusion. But if it's not that important to the current case I'll just explain somewhere that my name didn't change. They'll see on my divorce certificate #1 that I had my maiden name then anyway.

This whole thing is stressful but so unbelievably exciting! Hopefully the processing times will stay within the 5 month frame. We've waited so long to even get to this point.

[Protocol417 161]

9/11: I traveled to the UK to meet him, but was denied entry and sent back to the US.

Slightly , but I noticed your signature... can I ask why you were denied entry?

We've had a few successful visits back and forth but I'm still very paranoid about it!

[KayDeeCee 4,900]

Thanks, that's all good advice and pointers! The thing about signing on something soft I never thought of, that's a good idea.

The reason I was concerned about past marriage certificates was because I've read you should include these as an explanation for a name change. For instance, my birth certificate is in a different name than my current one. I was going to submit my marraige to my 2nd husband certificate as proof of why my name is now what it is (I felt it was pointless to revert to my married name after my divorce since I will be changing again when I marry my fiance). But I kept my maiden name in marriage #1, so I was concerned that not having both marriage certificates would cause confusion. But if it's not that important to the current case I'll just explain somewhere that my name didn't change. They'll see on my divorce certificate #1 that I had my maiden name then anyway.

This whole thing is stressful but so unbelievably exciting! Hopefully the processing times will stay within the 5 month frame. We've waited so long to even get to this point.

The above info about not needing previous marriage certificates and that they are pointless is incorrect. You DO need the marriage certificate from the marriage where you changed your name. This is stated in the form instructions. The other marriage where no name change occurred, there is no need for that marriage certificate. The marriage certificate is to show your paper trail of legal name change. Send a copy. Send copies of both your divorce decrees.

No need to explain about your name not changing. They only need legal documentation of when your name DID change. The forms ask about other names used. You would list your maiden name and use the marriage certificate to show why your current name is different than that of your maiden name shown on your birth certificate. Also, you need the long form of birth certificates.

[FrozenGlitter 1]

Slightly , but I noticed your signature... can I ask why you were denied entry?

We've had a few successful visits back and forth but I'm still very paranoid about it!

No offense to the customs people at heathrow, but they were awful to me. : ( I had no job at the time, and their "official" reason was that my unemployed status made them suspect I was going to stay in the UK, because I had no ties to the US. You know, despite having spent my life here and having my TWO CHILDREN back at home. They said TONS of women leave their kids behind and move illegally to the UK.

I think the real reason was that I had met my fiance online and had, at that time, never met him in person, and was splitting up from my now ex husband. When she asked how we met and I explained it was on twitter she got all horrified looking and decided she needed to call him to verify our relationship. (he wasn't at the airport because I was meeting him at Manchester airport). However speaking to him on the phone wasn't enough for her and she and her coworkers made me sit in a small room for NINE HOURS, with my passport and belongings locked away from me, while they asked me insanely detailed questions like when did he divorce and what were my parents jobs and what did my ex think of me flying to the UK to be with another man? It was torture. They eventually decided there was no proof I'd return home, despite my kids, current passport, return plane tickets and my fiance and his mother vouching for me. Oh and they also accused my fiance of getting into an argument with me and kicking me out on the street, which he would NEVER do!!!

He wrote letters to his MP's after this experience and they forwarded it on but the UKBA stood by their decision and in the future I'll need a tourist visa to go there, presumably even after I marry him.

He's never had a problem entering the US, so he always comes here. He has a job and has told them he's here to visit his girlfriend (he never says fiance of course) and they barely even look at him. Fingers crossed it stays that way!!!

[Protocol417 161]

No offense to the customs people at heathrow, but they were awful to me. : ( I had no job at the time, and their "official" reason was that my unemployed status made them suspect I was going to stay in the UK, because I had no ties to the US. You know, despite having spent my life here and having my TWO CHILDREN back at home. They said TONS of women leave their kids behind and move illegally to the UK.

I think the real reason was that I had met my fiance online and had, at that time, never met him in person, and was splitting up from my now ex husband. When she asked how we met and I explained it was on twitter she got all horrified looking and decided she needed to call him to verify our relationship. (he wasn't at the airport because I was meeting him at Manchester airport). However speaking to him on the phone wasn't enough for her and she and her coworkers made me sit in a small room for NINE HOURS, with my passport and belongings locked away from me, while they asked me insanely detailed questions like when did he divorce and what were my parents jobs and what did my ex think of me flying to the UK to be with another man? It was torture. They eventually decided there was no proof I'd return home, despite my kids, current passport, return plane tickets and my fiance and his mother vouching for me. Oh and they also accused my fiance of getting into an argument with me and kicking me out on the street, which he would NEVER do!!!

He wrote letters to his MP's after this experience and they forwarded it on but the UKBA stood by their decision and in the future I'll need a tourist visa to go there, presumably even after I marry him.

He's never had a problem entering the US, so he always comes here. He has a job and has told them he's here to visit his girlfriend (he never says fiance of course) and they barely even look at him. Fingers crossed it stays that way!!!

Funny how they would consider a job to be sufficient evidence, but not kids. Because, you know, nobody ever leaves their job without notice...

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

At looonnggg last, I am free to assemble and file my I 129F!!! So now, good people, I have some more questions:

That's it for these, I'll have some more later I'm sure, now off to write a post with my questions about the AOS process!

My brief comments to your questions.

Scans are fine of his boarding passes. Photocopies, not your original birth certificate or divorce decrees are fine.

I don't see why you need documentation of your name change. I didn't. Other names used might include maiden name, previous married name, a nickname if you used it as a legal name...like you got a driver license or bank account as Liz Smith instead of Elizabeth.

You need both divorce decrees and they must have a judges signature.

Birth certificate should have parent's name on it.

UK birth certificate, passport will be shown officially for the first time at his interview in London. He may want to use copies of his entry stamps for proof of meeting, but he's not proving his citizenship in the petition. You are proving yours with a birth certificate because you can't petition a fiancé unless you are a USC.

Blue ink, black ink, indented signature is baloney. Just sign the bloody form and get on with it.

[KayDeeCee 4,900]

The I-129F instructions ask for documentation of name change. If you changed your name when you married, then your name would not match the name on your birth certificate used to prove citizenship. They want the legal document that shows change of name, even though you list all your names used on the form. I provided a copy of my marriage certificate to show my legal name change. I even had to provide a copy of my previous marriage certificate at the DMV because of the same reason. I suppose if you use your passport to prove citizenship, then it would not be needed since your current name would match your documentation then.

From the form instructions:

6. What Other Documents Do You Need?

C. If either you or the person you are filing for is using a name other than that shown on the relevant documents, you must give USCIS copies of the legal documents that made the change, such as a marriage certificate, adoption decree or court order.

[FrozenGlitter 1]

Funny how they would consider a job to be sufficient evidence, but not kids. Because, you know, nobody ever leaves their job without notice...

Exactly what I thought. I'd be way more likely to leave my job than my kids.

[FrozenGlitter 1]

The I-129F instructions ask for documentation of name change. If you changed your name when you married, then your name would not match the name on your birth certificate used to prove citizenship. They want the legal document that shows change of name, even though you list all your names used on the form. I provided a copy of my marriage certificate to show my legal name change. I even had to provide a copy of my previous marriage certificate at the DMV because of the same reason. I suppose if you use your passport to prove citizenship, then it would not be needed since your current name would match your documentation then.

From the form instructions:

6. What Other Documents Do You Need?

C. If either you or the person you are filing for is using a name other than that shown on the relevant documents, you must give USCIS copies of the legal documents that made the change, such as a marriage certificate, adoption decree or court order.

Right. I'd rather not use my passport for proving citizenship because it has my denied entry to the UK stamp, and while I'm imagine that really isn't relevant here, the less hassle the better. Besides, since my divorce from marriage#1 will have my maiden name on it (since that's the one where I didn't change my name), I'd still need my marriage certificate from marriage #2 to explain why it did.

As for long form birth certificates, because I see differing opinions on this, the one I have I assume is the short form, but it has my parent's names on it. Is that all I need, then?

[KayDeeCee 4,900]

Right. I'd rather not use my passport for proving citizenship because it has my denied entry to the UK stamp, and while I'm imagine that really isn't relevant here, the less hassle the better. Besides, since my divorce from marriage#1 will have my maiden name on it (since that's the one where I didn't change my name), I'd still need my marriage certificate from marriage #2 to explain why it did.

As for long form birth certificates, because I see differing opinions on this, the one I have I assume is the short form, but it has my parent's names on it. Is that all I need, then?

Yes, it needs the parents names. Here is more info on birth certificates> http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html#certificates